Record Cold Possible New Year’s Day

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - New Year’s Eve revelers could be facing their coldest start to the New Year in over two decades in Rochester early Monday.

The National Weather says an entrenched high-pressure system will produce low-temperature readings in the mid-teens below zero on Sunday and Monday mornings, with the coldest readings expected on the early hours of New Year’s Day. That would be the coldest start to a New Year in Rochester since at least 2010 when the morning low on January 1st was -13. The current forecast calls for a low of -16 Monday morning, which would be the coldest reading on January 1 in at least 20-years.

The very coldest New Year’s Day on record in Rochester occurred in 1974 when the low was -21 and the afternoon high was only -2. That record could fall this year. The forecast is currently calling for on the high on Monday to be in the single digits below zero.

At this point, the National Weather Service is predicting the bitter cold to stick around through the work week, with highs between zero and 10 above zero and overnight lows of -5 to -10 or colder. A modest warm-up could occur next weekend, with forecasters currently saying a high in the teens above zero is possible next Saturday.

National Weather Service

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